Loved this quote
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| Sat, 09-29-2007 - 9:07pm |
I read one of the best books recently - it is called "From Good to Great" and is a research project highlighting the common denominators of companies that went from good to great in their fields.
Anyway, one of the chapters is about Jim Stockdale. He was a POW in Vietnam for almost a decade. He has a famous quote that has inspired me since I have read it:
"You must retain faith that you can prevail to greatness in the end, while retaining the discipline to confront the brutal facts of your current reality."
I sort of thought this could be true for a lot of us single parents. Whether it be to find financial stability, get over a bad exh, find a new mate, raise our kids on our own, deal with the death of a loved one - on and on.
Jim was instrumental in his crew's and his own life to maintain sanity in the horrid conditions in which he was kept. It is said that those who maintained a positive outlook, while embracing the reality of the condition, did the best. In other words, those who said we will be out by Christmas fared the worst - because although they were positive, they were not in touch with reality. Whereas Jim said - we WILL get out - but it might not be this Xmas or even the next.
I thought that was pretty good stuff. You can find more on him if you google him.
